The student loan industry is characterized as a public/private partnership. On the public side legislators at both the federal and state levels regulate the industry with the goal of determining the “financial need” of students. On the private side, banks and lending institutions satisfy students' financial need by marketing a series of incremental student loan products.
There are many types of student loans products that are available to students with financial need. Some of these products are regulated by the Department of Education and insured by the government. Some of these products are also regulated and insured by private banks.
Once the financial need of a student/family has been assessed, students are awarded a financial aid package from prospective schools. A financial aid package will include scholarships (that do not have to be paid back) and student loans (which do have to be paid back). Often the loan portion of the financial aid package will include loan offerings from both the government pool of loans and the banking industry pool of loans. Consequently, students are required to fill out multiple loan applications to secure the various loans.